If you’re looking for “Web 2.0” you wont’ find it in a box, but you will find it emerging in the practices of an increasing number of companies.  The move to web-based applications on simpler, user-friendly, intuitive sites has been gaining steam for a while now.  And Adobe Photoshop has just announced that they, too, are getting onboard with the trend with Photoshop Express.

 Arguments are already coming out “for” and “against” the idea of Photoshop moving in this direction, but let’s face it, web-based apps are “in.”

I especially like what Nathan Cook, owner of Developers Studio recently told me with regard to software – research has shown that most people use only 20 percent of what the software they buy is capable of.  As such, web applications that focus intently on one thing are becoming quite popular because:

(a) they’re easy to access, and
(b) they’re more cost-effective.

After all, why pay for features you’re never going to use?

 Cook points to sites like 37signals.com which serves as a hub to other sites owned by the company, each of which specializes in one web-based product. “They set a standard for keeping things simple,” he says.

The consensus seems to be that Adobe is banking on web-based applications like Adobe Air (which makes web-based applications available offline) and Adobe Flex, a hybrid product that makes Flash more dynamic, to draw people to their other products.

For example, the online Photoshop Express will not likely replace regular Photoshop due to the file sizes associated with images. But you’ve got to give the company some credit — they’re showing some good marketing savvy by capitalizing on the pervasive Web 2.0 mentality.

Share This

Filed in Technology, Business, Internet, E-Learning